Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Revenge of the Nerds

The anti-nerd movement in the 80’s gave glasses a bad image which caused most of the visually challenged to promptly trade theirs for contact lenses.

But now, with technology driving the Information Age, we are experiencing the real revenge of the nerd. We’ve all seen the triumphant return of Peter Parker and Clark Kent. Geek is now chic!

Personally, I really prefer glasses over contacts. Apart from the relief from all the discomforts from wearing contacts, like dry eyes, I find that glasses gives me more flexibility and options when it comes to the overall look I want to project.

If I need to look all serious and professional, I wear my silver, conservative frames, which go well with any business attire. For more casual or social functions, I go with the rectangular, horn-rimmed glasses my wife gave me for Christmas.

This pair matches most of my casual or night-out clothes, which tend to be dark-colored.

The face of your shape primarily dictates the frame that suits you best. The rule of thumb is to pick frames that provide a complimentary contrast to the shape and create balance for your face. See what comes closest to your own face with the following common shapes:

If you have a round face, you’d like your glasses to give you a thinner and longer appearance. Angular narrow eyeglass frames that are wider than they are deep, such as a rectangular shape, can achieve this for this facial type.

Because of its balanced proportions, the oval face is considered as the ideal shape. This is also the easiest and most flexible shape to pair with because most frames will tend to work. Frames that are as wide as the broadest part of the face (e.g. walnut-shaped) that are not too deep or too narrow work best.

Oblong shaped faces are longer than they are wide so the objective is to minimize the length to achieve the right balance and proportion. Choose frames that cover as much of the center of the face as possible in order to minimize the length.

If you have a square face, you’d like frames that can make your face look longer and your jaw lines. Frames that have more width than depth and narrow ovals complement this facial type.

This is also sometimes referred to as a base-up triangle shape. If this is your face, your objective should be to minimize the width of the top of the face. Frames that are wider at the bottom and use very light colors and materials can achieve this for you. Rimless frame styles also work best on this face type.

The Base-Down Shape is the opposite of the heart-shaped face, where the face has a narrow forehead that widens at the cheek and chin areas. To balance out the broader lower part of the face, favor frames that are heavily accented on the top region like those that are semi-rimless (heavy top, and no frame at the bottom).

In choosing the color of your frames, eyewear experts say to consider eye color; but, since Pinoy eyes generally just come in either black or brown, what’s important to consider is for the color of your frames to reflect your personality and what will match 80% of your wardrobe.